Defamation and Online Privacy

When content appears about you online which is untrue or defamatory, it can affect your personal and professional reputation.

The higher the authority of the site, the higher the content could appear on a search result when people search for your name. The longer you leave it, the bigger the impact it can have.

We work with many individuals to help them remove and challenge defamatory or unwanted content, as well as advise them on any legal issues.

Removing defamatory content

Here are some of the issues we can help you with:

Confidential personal information posted without consent

False or threatening profiles set up on social and professional media platforms

Defamatory comments and opinions relating to personal or commercial issues – often unsubstantiated

Outdated and irrelevant content

We can help you challenge and remove defamatory personal information or images. Partnering with legal experts in intellectual property and media law, we can advise on issues online, as well as the legal options available to you when challenging online content.

We’re completely transparent about the best options available to you, and what’s likely to be most effective.

If you are the victim of online defamation, you need to understand the law. Defamation laws differ by country.

Defamation laws in the Philippines

For example, Title thirteen of the Revised Penal Code of the Philippines addresses ‘Crimes against Honnor’. Libel is defined as “public and malicious imputation of a crime, or of a vice or defect, real or imaginary, or any act, omission, condition, status, or circumstance tending to cause the dishonor, discredit, or contempt of a natural or juridical person, or to blacken the memory of one who is dead”. Slander is defined as oral defamation. Slander by deed is defined as “any act not included and punished in this title, which shall cast dishonor, discredit or contempt upon another person”. Penalties of fine or imprisonment are specified for these crimes and for the threat of libel.

Defamation laws in the UAE

The Penal Code in the UAE, makes it an offence to publish information that exposes another person to public hatred or contempt, or to make a false accusation which dishonours or discredits another person. The Cyber Crimes Law (Federal Law No. 5 of 2012) makes it an offence to use any IT means to breach someone else’s privacy, including by taking pictures of others, or publishing or displaying those pictures. Disclosing secrets relating to someone’s private life, without that person’s consent can attract liability and disclosing confidential information, such as information belonging to an employer, can also attract legal liability in the UAE.

Defamation laws in Indonesia

In Indonesia, defamation is a criminal act under Articles 310-321 of the Penal Code of Indonesia. It is taken very seriously and, defaming an official, for example, even if the information is true can result in a prison sentence. The government is very concerned with cyber libel and believes it must be stopped to better society.